Teachers: Can I ask a question re; the faith element of the NC please?

[Badvoc]

Do you know what the faith part of the NC includes in EYFS, KS1, KS2 and KS3 please or point me in the direction of a website that I can find out on?

I may be taking on a role as a youth worker at my local church and although my ds1 is in KS2 and ds2 is on EYFS in a faith school I have no idea what the faith element of their learning is!! apart from ds1 got team points for his work on sikhism

Also, do any of you have any ideas/suggestions for how a church could help/assist young families? I feel toddlers are well represented and ks1 kids but at my church there are no clubs/activities for pre school and older kids.

Any suggestions?

TIA!

RE is not part of the national curriculum (although there is optional guidance available on the DfE website www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/curriculum/primary/a0064886/religious-education-in-english-schools-non-statutory-guidance-2010 ), however it is a compulsory subject for all schools. The local curriculum is set by the local authority (or dioceses if it is a church school), so to get you local one you would need to contact either the school or your local authority who can pass it on to you.

Yes, there is no nc for RE, but each local authority will have a SACRE who decide the locally agreed syllabus that all schools in the area will follow. However, religious schools can opt out if they have their own diocesan syllabus to follow (often CofE and Catholic schools will have their own).

If I recall correctly, schools don't have to do RE in the foundation stage. Our local SACRE starts at KS1.

As a youth worker, you may well be able to go into schools, into RE lessons to talk about your faith etc... this will depend upon the head / head of RE etc..

However, schools have also got an obligation to ensure the social, religious, moral education of their students etc. however, I see this as being a very different role and as a RE teacher, I always refused to participate in this. But this would involve assemblies, maybe a Christian lunch club and the like.

Hth

But outside of

Thank you both.

Sorry, what is SACRE?

I already volunteer in the school as parent helper (I listen to the EAL children read and help them with their comprehension) and I was an assisstant beaver leader in the area I last lived in so have some experience of schools/working with children but I dont know very much about what (if anything) the schools do/have to do IYSWIM?

Its a CofE school btw.

If I asked the HT do you think she would give me a copy of the syllabus?

Thank again

mrsletch I know my ds1 does RE - and enjoys it! - but am not sure what happens prior to that...my ds2 is in pre school and I will ask the manager there tomorrow about that.

May I ask...why do you refuse to participate in the "social, religious, moral education of their students"?

Please feel free not to answer if you feel it is impertinent...I am just trying to get a feel of I should/could/would do in this role and whether I feel I can do it!!!

sacre = standing advisory committee for religious education

I can't see why not, it's a public document and if you explain why you want then I'm sure she would be more than happy to help (especially as it is a church school!)

Btw SACRE stands for Standing advisory Council for religious education. It is basically a group (usually with a mix of education profs and local faith groups reps) the local authority put together to write the agreed local syllabus for re.

Ah, hit post too soon!

Like MrsLetch, I'm an RE teacher and I too refuse to participate in
Christian unions etc - I see it as two very differebtb things; RE is an academic subject not a vehicle for 'selling a faith' - in order to do it properly and well (in my opinion) you have to be impartial.

My greatest week wad when a member of year 7 asked me if I was jewish, year 8 if I was a Muslim and year 9 if I was a Christian.

You may well be able to download the syllabus, you can ours!

community.lincolnshire.gov.uk/SACRE/section.asp?catId=28009

is an example!

This site:
www.reonline.org.uk/sites/index.php?la

is a useful starting point for finding the agreed syllabus for different areas.

Badvoc,

No I'm happy to answer that question, although my answer is pretty similar to Potterings. I believe RS to be an academic subject where students learn about a range of different religious beliefs (and none) from an impartial basis. However, the whole purpose of spiritual education is, of course, to develop a child spiritually. Usually this is done with the daily act of collective worship - but is within a faith remit. Therefore, I feel to do both blurs the distinction between them. I prefer to have a clear demarcation between the two roles, and as a RE teacher that would mean not participating in the faith side.

I see. That makes sense, thanks.

Will download that link.

Thanks all

I am a Children's Worker for the church which is linked to my children's school.

I don't really see the academic side of RE as my territory. But I might go in from time to time, when they want a tame Christian to come in and be asked questions about "what I do in church" or "what the Bible is for".

I am more involved in collective worship - i.e. assemblies and end of term services. I lead assemblies about once a month. I also run a prayer/support group for church members, staff and parents, which meets once a term to share news etc. And I recruit church members to volunteer at events like school fairs etc.

It has been suggested by one of the teachers that we could have a lunchtime club with a Christian focus, but I don't have time to do that at the moment.

The school also has a "quiet space" where there is an interactive display on a spiritual theme. The display changes about once a term and the area is used as part of RE, as a space for one to one activities and, interestingly, a special treat when certain children behave well because they like to go and chill out there! The displays are created by one of the teachers, who is a Christian and likes to do that kind of thing. But it's something I might have got involved in, had she need already got it covered!

Badvoc - have a look at this site as well. It's a fantastic resource to support schools and people that work in them:

Barnabas in Schools

thanks korma